Control for button sewing machine



July 16, 1957 F. D. BAILEY CONTROL. FOR BUTTON sswmc MACHINE Filed- July 16, 1954 INVENTOR FRED D. BAILEY ATTORNEY United States Fred D. Bailey, Troy, N. Y., assignor to Cluett, Peabody & Co., Inc., Troy, N. Y., a corporation of New York Application July 16, 1954, Serial No. 443,845 2 Claims. (Cl. 112-67) This invention relates to machines for sewing buttons to garments, and particularly to the automatic type in which a button sewing operation is initiated by movement of a control member, and when initiated, the machine itself completes a selected cycle of operation and then resets itself ready for a new operation. In machines of this type, which are available in the open market, the sewing mechanism is attached to a head which is mounted on a table, and, heretofore, the control member has been operated by a footpedal to which the control member was attached by a flexible chain which ran over a plurality of pulleys underneath the table. The chain and pulley connection between the footpedal and the starting lever and control member was unsatisfactory because there is considerable drag and frictional resistance caused by the pulleys and chain, and therefore considerable pressure was required by the operator on the pedal to initiate an operation. This slowed down the operation and also caused considerable operator fatigue because of the strong exertion necessary to overcome the drag on the pulleys and chain. Since it was necessary for the operator to exert a strong pressure on the pedal to initiate an operation, there was a substantial time delay in initiating an operation. The passage of the chain under the table also was objectionable because the lubricant on it tended to collect dust and lint, and this sometimes was transferred inadvertently to the clothing of the operator.

An object of this invention is to improve the mechanism forinitiating an operation of a button sewing machine, which requires a minimum of effort on the part of the operator to initiate a sewing operation, with which the drag and resistance to operate the controls are very greatly reduced, with which the collection of dust and lint on the starting mechanism is substantially reduced, which requires a minimum of change in existing mechanism, and which is relatively simple, compact, practical and inexpensive.

Other objects and advantages will be apparent from the following description of one embodiment of the invention, and the novel features will be particularly pointed out hereinafter in connection with the appended claims.

In the accompanying drawing:

Fig. l is a perspective of that end of a sewing machine commonly used for sewing buttons to garments, which is opposite from the needle end, and which represents one type of button sewing machine which is available on the market; and

Fig. 2 is a bottom plan of the same.

In the illustrated embodiment of the invention, the button sewing machine is a standard machine for this purpose which is available on the open market from a number of different manufacturers. The particular head and control mechanism shown in the drawings, corresponds to a button sewing machine marketed by the Singer Manufacturing Company of Elizabeth, N. I. and identified as model #114-32 and is illustrated in a booklet entitled List of Parts published by the Singer Manufacturing Company in September 1929, form #18361. In this ilatent O 2,799,235 Patented July 16, 1957 lustrated embodiment of the invention, only the right hand end of the head 1 is shown, because this invention relates to the control mechanism in this end of the head, and does not relate to the needle'end of the head. In this type of mechanism, the head 1 is usuallya hollow casting having a base part 2, and within the head 1 are a plurality of cams 3 which actuate levers that perform selected operations in the sewing of a button to a garment.

The control mechanism is disposed at the right of the head in Fig. 1, and it includes the breaking lever 4 which is pivoted at 5 to a bracket 6 on the head. It also includes a control lever 7 which is pivoted on a bracket 8 with a pivot pin 9. The head provides for an idler pulley 10 and a driving pulley 11 which are mounted on a shaft extending from the right of the upper part of the head. The driver pulley 11 is fixed on the shaft so as to drive the sewing mechanism, and the idler pulley 10 is loose on the same shaft. A belt 12 normally runs over the idler pulley 10 from a suitable source of driving power. A belt shifter arm 13 is fixed to the control lever 7 and the rear stretch of the belt 12 passes through a loop on the free end of the arm 13.

When the control lever 7 is rocked counter-clockwise in Fig. l,- the arm 13 will shift the belt 12 in a direction to carry it over on the drive pulley 11 and there cause a driving powerto be applied to the sewing mechanism. The control lever 7 is normally engaged with the pulley 11 so as to hold it from operation and its arm 13 holds the belt on the idler pulley, but when it is rocked'counterclockwise in Fig. 1, it is disengaged from the pulley 11 and atthe same time shifts the belt 12 into driving engagement with the drive pulley 11, A spring 14 urges v the control lever 7 in a clockwise direction, so that when the control lever is released, it will move into a position to stop the pulley 11 and shift the belt 12 ,into running engagement with the idler pulley 10.

When the control lever in Fig. 1 to release the'pulley 11 and initiate a cycle of operation of the sewing mechanism, it is latched in the position into which it was moved, and is held in that latched position until the sewing cycle has been completed after which it is released and moved into the position shown in Fig. 1 in which it stops operation of the sewing mechanism. The control lever 7 is actuated to' initiate a sewing operation by means of a startinglever 15, which is pivoted at 16 on the bracket 6, and this lever 15 has a cam part which cams the upper end of the control lever 7 to the left in Fig. 1 (counterclockwise) to initiate an operation. Thus, when the free end of the lever 15 is pulled downwardly in Fig. 1 it rocks the control lever 7 and initiates an operation of the mechanism.

The machine automatically stops itself in a position where a new operation can be initiated by another downward pull on the free end of the starting lever 15. This is all conventional mechanism for button sewing machines,

and it has not been further illustrated or described be' cause the details of it beyond the head and starting lever are no part of the present invention.

This invention relates to improved means for operating the starting lever 15, and for this purpose the flange 17 of the base 2 is drilled to provide a passage 18 through which a shaft 19 is disposed and confined for rocking movement. A collar 20 fixed on the shaft 19 by a setscrew 21 limits movement of the shaft 19 to the left in Fig. 2 without interfering with its rocking movement. A bearing 22 is provided on a bracket arm 23 that is secured on the bottom of the base 2, and the shaft 19 also extends through and is rotatably supported by this bearing 22. A collar 24 fixed on the shaft 19 by a setscrew 25 limits the movement of the shaft to the right in Fig. 2. Thus the shaft 19 is rotatably mounted in the base 2 of the head 1, with the shaft 19 running in a direction generally 7 is moved counter-clockwise lengthwise of the head. An eccentric arm 26 is fixed in the free end of the arm 26, and at its other end is hooked through an aperture in the free end of the starting lever 15. A link 31 is similarly hooked through an eye 32 in the free end of the arm 28 of the shaft, so as to be dependent therefrom, and at its lower end the link is pivotally connected at 33 to a foot-operated lever or pedal 34 which'is in turn pivoted at 35 to a frame. Thus When the operator depresses the pedal 34, it pulls down the link 31 and thereby pulls arm 28 downward,- which rocks the shaft 19 in a direction to pull the arm 26 downwardly. This arm 26, in its downward movement, pulls downwardlyon link 29 and this, in turn, pulls the starting lever downwardly. The latter rocks the control lever 7 counter-clockwise in Fig. 1, and initiates a sewing cycle of operations. At the end of the cycle, the spring 14 returns the control lever 7 to its normal position in which it stops the operation of the sewing mechanism, and returns the starting lever 15 to its upper inactive position.

It will be observed that by substituting the linkage and the shaft with arms for the old chain and pulleys, there is no drag of the chain and the pulleys which would slow down operation of the starting lever, and there is less friction to overcome when starting an operation of the machine. Thus the time required to actuate the starting mechanism is materially reduced, and because of the reduced friction and drag, less effort is required of the operator to initiate an operation of the sewing mechanism, and this -materia1ly reduces operator fatigue. When one does not have to press as hard to overcome friction and drag, there is less operator fatigue. Because of the shaftand linkage, the collection of lint and dust on the operator mechanism is greatly reduced and'there is no oily chain or pulleys that may come in contact with the clothing and soil them and collect lint and dust.

It will be understood that various changes in the details and arrangements of parts, which have been herein described and illustrated in order to explain the nature of the invention, may be made by those skilled in the art within the principle and scope of the invention as expressed in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In combination, an inexpensive starting linkage for installation in a button sewing machine, said sewing machine having a sewing head, a base and a starting member, said inexpensive starting linkage including a rockable shaft mounted in said base with the axis of rocking thereof extending in a direction lengthwise of the base, said rockable shaft extending endwise beyond the base and carrying adjacent the extended end thereof a first eccentric arm, an elongated first link means connected at one end to said sewing machine starting member and at the other end thereof to said first eccentric arm, the end-of said rockable shaft opposite to said extended end having a second eccentric arm, and second link means connecting said second eccentric arm with a foot pedal located below said sewing machine base to cause movement of said sewing machine starting member when the foot pedal is operated.

2. In a button sewing machine of the type in which the sewing mechanism is carried by a head mounted upon an elongated base and in which the operation of the sewing mechanism is initiated by manipulation of a manually operable starting member that is provided on that end of the head which is opposite from the needle end and which sewing mechanism, when an operation is initiated, will complete a selected cycle of automatic operation and then stop ready for a new operation, that improvement therein which comprises a starting linkage for use with said sewing machine head, base and starting member, said starting linkage including a rockable shaft operably mounted upon said sewing machine base with the axis of rocking thereof extending angularly in a direction lengthwise of the base, said rockable shaft extending endwise beyond said base and carrying adjacent the extended end thereof a first eccentric arm member, an elongated substantially vertical first link means connected adjacent the upper end thereof to said sewing machine starting member and adjacent the lower end thereof to said first eccentric arm member, the end of said rockable shaft opposite to said extended end having a second eccentric arm member, and second link means connecting said second eccentric arm member with a foot pedal located therebelow to cause movement of said sewing machine starting member when the foot pedal is operated.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 766,814 Diehl Aug. 9, 1904 1,430,498 Franklin Sept. 26, 1922 1,542,865 Fifield June 23, 1925 

